Post Easter Powder

It only took a quick look at the weather to determine that Mount Washington was the destination for us today. 20-30cm of new snow fell in the storm yesterday around the Strathcona park area. We jumped on our snowmobiles and headed up the 9km access road. Below 900m there was a crust on the surface of the new snow and after that it became cold, dry, bliss. Until it got sun-soaked that is. In the morning we noted loose dry avalanches up to size 1.5 coming out of steep terrain, likely from within or just following the storm. Our pit at 1375m on a northwest aspect revealed a moderate resistant result down 41cm on the April 2 crust, but showed no propagation upon further testing. We suspect this could paint a picture for a possibility of a stubborn, isolated wind slab in some locations. By mid afternoon it warmed up and the top 3cm of surface snow at 1400m and below was getting moist on all aspects. By 1000m this surface snow was very wet and heavy. We saw many recreationalists out in the area today, many high marks were placed up aggressive terrain as well as ski tracks down steep chutes with no resulting avalanche activity. However, pinwheeling was abundant.